//------------------------------// // Applejack // Story: Destiny Book 1: Dark Vengeance // by SirScribe //------------------------------// Applejack gave one last good buck before the tree came down. With the taste of the apple treat she had to endure while masquerading as Princess Cadence, Queen Chrysalis ordered that many of Equestria’s apple orchards had to come down for good. Any pony who had great strength were ‘hired’ to bring them down. In return, she would not bring harm to them nor their families. If that didn’t work, then classic hypnotism worked best. Still, Chrysalis kept her word and brought misery to those who resisted. Of course, Chrysalis had another motive. By threatening the lives of a pony’s loved ones, the love that Changelings fed on would be exposed and make it easier for Chrysalis to feed her hive while also ridding the world of the horrible red and green orbs that she had the displeasure of tasting. Feeding off Applejack’s love of her family and friends was almost too easy for Chrysalis, and it was a meal that was still being passed around. Applejack was working in the orchards of Appleloosa bringing down the trees. Because of her experience and strength, she was best qualified for the demolition. She and a few other ponies worked together to bring them down, and high in the gorge surrounding the orchard, were the Changelings watching their workers bake in the eternal darkness that Nightmare created. As the tree finally rested on the ground, Applejack breathed a big sigh of relief and felt pleasure. Her sickly green eyes glowed with the power the Changelings used on her. She surveyed her work in front of her. So many of the apples were smashed under the weight of the now dead tree. As she surveyed her work, she noticed a simple red apple on the ground, completely unharmed. No sign of bruising or anything. Applejack walked over to the perfect apple, and smashed it with her hoof. She had her orders. No apple gets any mercy. As the apple farmer turned to tackle her next tree, she found herself face first into a pair of wooden doors. She hit the doors with such strength, it wiggled. She bounced right off and landed on the ground. Her Stetson flew into the air and landed nearby…next to another perfectly fine apple. Applejack groaned as she looked up at what hit her. It was a big, blue box. That was it. A simple blue box with window panels and a pair of doors. Above the doors and window panels was a black bar with the words: POLICE PUBLIC CALL BOX. At the very top was a simple light bulb. “Well that can’t be right,” Applejack said to herself. “That wasn’t there a minute ago.” Boy was she right. She walked around the box, looking for whoever put it there in the first place. She knocked on it in several places. It was 100% wood. It also looked pretty heavy. Applejack did another walk around just to ensure she didn’t miss anything. Aside from the handles, there was nothing else abnormal about it. The pony reached for the handles to see if the box can open, and before she could push the doors, they flew open. Applejack jumped a few feet back as a brown pony walked out. He had a messy brown mane and wore a long, brown coat. Sticking out of the pocket of his coat was a silver stick with a blue tip. She thought the stallion looked weird wearing something so…outstanding. And not in the best way too. The stallion closed the doors behind him. Applejack could swear she saw something inside. Before she could say anything, the stallion spoke. “Hello Applejack,” the pony said. Applejack raised an eyebrow. “Who are ya?” “I’m the Doctor.” “Doctor what?” The stallion chuckled. “Just ‘The Doctor’. Nice to meet you,” he said. Applejack sighed. “What do ya want? No, don’t answer. Leave!” The Doctor sighed. The Changelings had a lot of control over the farm pony. The Doctor had managed to convince Twilight that he was going to snap Applejack out of her hypnotic state. The Time Lord took a step toward her, but Applejack took a step back. “Don’t come any closer! Ah’m warning ya!” The Doctor stopped. “Applejack, calm down. Look, I don’t want any trouble, I just want to talk to you.” “Yer interruptin’ mah work in case ya didn’t know,” she said. “Now git, or ah’m callin’ them Changelings.” The Doctor chuckled and inched closer to the apple farmer. “You won’t do that. I know you won’t drive me away because deep down you need my help.” “If yer a doctor, then ya should know there ain’t nuthin wrong with me at all. Ah’m perfectly fine!” The Time Lord shook his head. “I don’t believe you Applejack.” The apple farmer looked around frantically. She spotted an apple on the tree she knocked down and threw it at the Time Lord. The apple harmlessly bounced off his chest and rolled away. “An apple a day doesn’t always keep the doctor away, just so you know,” the Doctor said. Applejack growled. “Just leave me alone, doc. Why don’t ah just spare y’all the trouble and git! Why don’t ya leave like the rest of ‘em!” “This caught the Doctor’s attention. “Like who?” “Like Twilight.” Inside the TARDIS, Twilight was overhearing everything. When Applejack used her name, the princess of magic felt like she was frozen. Rarity, who had recovered from her earlier fiasco, was also overhearing the conversation. Rarity had completely recovered from being Sombra’s puppet. The armor she was forced to wear was now gone and the effects of dark magic was completely wiped out. It was as though nothing happened to her, but she knew very well that Sombra used her the way no pony should ever be used. It made her feel dirty to take an empire for the wrong cause. “Why did she say your name, Twilight?” Rarity asked. “I don’t know. I didn’t leave her or anypony like I abandoned them,” she said. “I stayed as close as I could.” Ditzy and Luna both looked at each other. “Perhaps this is not for us to be involved in, wouldn’t you agree?” Luna asked. Ditzy nodded. Together, the two friends left the control room in search for something to pass their time. Zecora had been dropped back off to Ponyville after recovering Rarity for, what Twilight called, the right moment to strike. Zecora didn’t know what to think of that in the beginning, it made perfect sense that Twilight wanted her to help organize a rebellion against the Four. The Doctor sighed. “Why would Twilight be involved in this? She would never leave you.” “Yeah she would! She’s a princess now! A fancy pony with wings and a horn! She’s practically a god now, and why would she want to hang around us when she could be with the princesses performin’ their royal duties in elegance? We ain’t nuthin to her!” The Doctor immediately walked forward, this time with no resistance from the hypnotized pony. “Well, don’t say that. Yeah she is an alicorn now, but that doesn’t mean that she—” “She’s immortal, aint she?” The Time Lord took a minute to think about the question. “Twilight will probably live her life with us, and when we die, she’ll forget about us! Ah though we were going to be friends forever, but that can’t happen if Twilight is living for thousands of years! First mah parents die, now my friendship with Twilight will die. Ah’ll never get to see Twilight like she’ll see me. Ah’m going to be old and a granny while Twilight will look the same as now. Ya don’t understand what it feels like to know your friends will forget about you and you can’t do anything about it.” Twilight froze inside the TARDIS. Rarity was also frozen when she heard that Applejack was telling the Doctor what she was thinking in the past few months. She did fear that Twilight would outlive her, and she had talked to the others who all shared the same fear. The Doctor sighed. “Well, don’t assume that,” he said. Applejack looked up at the stallion. “You think she will forget you when she hits the millennia mark? That’s impossible, Applejack. I’m 904 years old and I remember all the faces I’ve met over the years.” The Doctor’s expression darkened. “All the faces I lost. All those ponies didn’t deserve to be put in harm’s way.” Applejack sat up. “Yer not 904 years old. Ya ain’t an alicorn!” The Doctor shrugged. “I’m not a pony, per say. I’m a Time Lord, and my race has the ability to live for long periods of time, unless they regenerate. Listen, I cannot say for sure whether or not Twilight is immortal, but that doesn’t mean you should abandon your friendship with her over the possibility that she might be.” Twilight’s heart raced. “I’ve seen a lot of things in my 900 years of time travel. I’ve met spectacular people and ponies within that time. I grew attached to each friend I made, but I had to accept the ugly truth: it won’t last forever. You think it will last forever, the friendships, but they don’t. They wither and die just like everypony else, but that’s in the eyes of immortals. Immortals will see the birth and death of whoever they come across. They can’t fall in love because it is temporary. They can’t have a family when only one or two of your foals will regenerate. I’ve lost so many of my friends, they all are blurred now. Their lives are racing away, tackling new obstacles and combatting old sins. They’re also living. They find love, they have foals, and their foals will later have little ones. It’s an adventure to see where life takes you, but if you are frozen in time, like myself, it’s nothing more than looking into the window of a shop and imagining yourself with the item, but you can never have it. It’s cruel.” Twilight’s heart broke. “If Twilight is immortal, then you got the better end of the deal. She can live her life for a long time and can probably do a lot with her free time, but you, no. You can continue living on the farm with your family, settle down and find somepony to share your life with, have a family started, and overall enjoy life. You can do whatever your heart desires and it will be enjoyable because you will know that it will end soon. That’s the meaning of life. We don’t try to avoid death because we fear it, we avoid it because there is still much to do. What’s life without end?” Applejack sniffled. “Don’t think Twilight will forget you. You made a lasting impression on her, you all did. How can somepony forget who her extended family is? You all will hold a special place in her heart. Don’t let time boss you around.” Twilight moved herself from the door, allowing Rarity to continue listening. She was going to have a talk with Princess Celestia when this was all done. While Rarity stood by the door, her mind began to race. The Doctor was letting on more than what he already shared. 904 years old? Applejack’s eyes began to water. The green glow that symbolized the hold the Changelings had disappeared, giving her free will. She ran to the Doctor, and gave him a big hug. The Doctor smiled as he returned the hug. The first thing Applejack heard was a series of drumbeats. They seemed to be coming from inside his chest, where his heart was supposed to be. Even though it was troublesome to hear the foreign sound, it was relaxing. Listening to a heartbeat was soothing as it was, but this drumbeat was something else. The two broke the hug. “I think you are all well. C’mon, we should continue looking for your friends.” Applejack nodded. “Um, is Twilight alright? The girls?” The Doctor nodded. “Um, can ya not tell ‘er about this?” “Keeping secrets is my specialty,” the Doctor said. “Ok, so you, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight are all secure. Now, I understand there are more.” Applejack nodded. “Ah think ah know where they are. Do ya know how to get there?” The Time Lord smiled as he knocked on the doors of the TARDIS. Rarity took that as a sign to get out of the way. The Doctor threw open the doors. “Care to step inside?” The earth pony looked inside, and already her mind exploded. The console room was inhabited by Rainbow Dash and Rarity, who were both talking. When they saw Applejack, they both dropped whatever else they were doing and reunited. Applejack’s heart began to fly as she embraced her friends once again. As they united, the Doctor looked around for Twilight. He knew talking to her about the whole situation with immortality would be a sore issue. "Twilight!" The Doctor turned around. Twilight had appeared from wherever she was and embraced the apple farmer. There were just two more ponies left to reunite the Elements, three if rescuing Princess Celestia counted. Of course it counts, the Doctor thought. If anypony else can help us out, she can. The Doctor returned to the console and released the brakes of the TARDIS. “Ok Applejack, I’m going to need your best guess. We got ourselves ponies to round up.”